Doesn’t the picture above just make you exhale – to feel like you could sit and stare at the sunset, to forget all that is going on around you? Yep, me too – in fact I’ve learned that some of the clutter that is going on around me is to my own doing – to my own collecting. This has become my equation:

Sell + Trash + Giveaway = Declutter.

To some that is a dirty word. I have to admit, I once could barely utter that word. I remember when we were first newlyweds and my husband got all excited about the first move and used the “D” word. I cringed.
“But, we might need that!” I said with clinched fists.
After about the, oh let’s say, the third move I had come around to liking the word. Declutter meant less to pack into a box and less to unpack once we got to the new place.

This week, I’m decluttering the apartment. Not because we are moving (that was last year), but because I am in need of it and the school is sponsoring a flea market. Yes, me…the one that could say the word only if we were packing up to move.

In the last five years I have come to realize that clutter controls you. Clutter wraps itself around you and tries to smother you. It hides in closets and builds up until one day it explodes all over the room to only leave your defenseless daughter buried beneath it. Clutter piles up on desks and oozes out of drawers. Clutter is bad. Declutter is good. Very good.

How do I do it? I tackle one room at a time. I have three piles. Sell. Trash. Giveaway. I ask myself these types of questions as I move from room to room:

• Has this been worn in the past year? Will I truly wear it? Is it too small for the kids?
• Do the kids play with these toys? 
• Do I use these many pots and pans in the kitchen? How about plastic bowls? Do I have way too many?

The trick is to be honest with yourself and do the toys when the kids are NOT around. Seriously, they don’t miss anything you’ve not seen them play with in the last few months, at least mine don’t. 

Another quick tip: Don’t do it all in one day. Set aside a half hour or so depending on the room and declutter just that room. Do another room another day, but keep going until you have looked over every room.

Well, it’s back to decluttering and pricing for me. I just hope that I’m not tempted to buy more “treasures” this weekend. 😉

If you want to read another expat’s take on “decluttering” check out this article from Aisha Isabel Ashraf. Click here to read.

Your Turn: So is the “D” word okay to use in your vocabulary or does it make you cringe? How do you declutter your home and how often? Please comment below.

"Silhouettes" by microsoft.com

This title maybe a little misleading. I’m not talking about not having the ability to differentiate between colors, but rather not seeing the color of people. To look at people from various parts of the world and not be focused on skin color.

I’ve noticed this with my children and their friends. Just a few weeks ago at church is a fun example. As you know Mei Mei is my Asian beauty. Her good friend is a blond beauty. They were helping her mother watch two young girls, one adopted from Asia.

Mei Mei’s friend suggested that they each take one to play with. She looked at the mother and said, “I’ll play with B because we are alike and she (pointing to Mei Mei) will play with A(the adopted one) because they are alike.”

My friend cocked her head and out of curiosity asked why she thought they were alike. She was wondering if it was because the similarity of skin color. Her daughter replied, “Oh, because A is quiet like her (pointing to Mei Mei) and B likes to run around and talk like me.” Mei Mei stood there shaking her head in agreement.

As my friend recounted the story to me, we both giggled and hoped that they both would always have this colorblindness towards people. That they would see the person, their heart, their personality way before the color of their skin.

Have you experienced this sort of colorblindness with your children? Share your story below.

*photo from flickr - The Commons

The past eight weeks I’ve been silent due to the fact that I was a teacher replacement for one of the teachers on maternity leave. I forgot how much I really LOVE teaching. It was so much fun to be back in the classroom. Using the Smartboard, planning projects, teaching writing, and being involved with middle school students. So. Much. Fun.

It was difficult though. Last time I taught in a classroom, I didn’t have children. Keeping up with homework and getting them fed a decent meal was a challenge some days. Also, having Jie Jie at home and balancing out the schedule with my husband on caring for her was a stretch. He did a great job, but he also had responsibilities that he had to do as well.

I’m not sure how mom’s do it all and survive. I had only eight weeks of it, and felt like I had run a marathon without training for it. So, my hat goes off to those who do it day in and day out, year after year. You all are truly superwomen in my book.

Here are a few tips I thought I’d share that I learned or wish I would have done to help ease the work load a bit more:

• Planned out meals for the week/month more.
• Used the crock-pot more.
• School lunches packed the night before.
• Sunday night sync schedules with my husband. Wish I had done this. Seriously would have helped me out with planning my schedule and communication would have been better, too.
• Ask friends for help. This is the one that I’m bad at, but slowly learning that I can’t do it all on my own.

Are you a working mom? What are your tips? Please share in the comments below…

Growing up I was always into making New Year’s Resolutions. I vowed to diet, to exercise, drink water more, read more, etc. It was always pathetic and never lasted more than a month at the most. By February I was back settled into my old ways.

Then I got older and ditched the whole idea completely. I just lived from one year to then next with no plans or goals of better living. Well, I still thought about better living, but it just wasn’t a “New Year’s Resolution” type of a thought.

Then last year I came across something called, My One Word. Basically, you choose one word that you want your life to focus on that year. I really liked the idea because it wasn’t too specific that I’d fail, yet it was something that at least I could improve or challenge myself with for a year.

2011  was “Security”. With all the challenges and changes the we have gone through last year, it was a perfect word for me.  As a Christian, I was challenged throughout the year on where my security was. It was a good year of personal growth.

2012 is going to be “Intentional”. This word has been popping up in various things that I’ve been reading and in conversations that I’ve been in. I believe it is fitting as I want to be intentional in my health, intentional in parenting, and intentional in marriage…basically intentional living. I’m excited to see what this year will bring as I focus on being more intentional in the things that I do.

Your turn: Do you set New Year’s resolutions or goals? Do you stick to them? Have you thought about choosing one word for the year? What is your one word? Please comment below.

Last time I talked about the Expat Christmas Tree, all the ornaments that we have representing the places we were at during the holiday season. Those ornaments are mine and my husband’s, not our kids’. They will have the opportunity to have them when we are finished with them one day.

My kids have their own ornaments. This is a tradition that my mother started years ago with me. When I was young, I received one ornament each Christmas until I left home.

She has carried out this tradition with my children. They each get an ornament each Christmas.

It is not anything huge or grand, but it is to them.

Each year we let them hang their ornament on the tree. They look at the train or the princess in detail and talk about the year they got that. They hang up their precious ornament with care. They brag to each other and to us about “their” ornament. I love this tradition.

1. History. We hear what they remember from Christmas’ past. What is on their hearts and what they are thinking. It is like a little window into their lives that we get a little glimpse.

2. Ownership. The Christmas tree is really theirs. They take pride in it knowing that “their” ornaments are on it.

3. Future: When they grow up and move away, they have ornaments for their first tree. Ornaments that tell a history. Ornaments that can draw them to a place of “home”, if only in their minds.

Our Christmas tree isn’t grand. It isn’t fancy. It is definitely isn’t one you’d see pictured in a magazine, but it is a tree full of history. History from Christmas’ past, with stories to tell.

What traditions do you have with your child(ren) during the Christmas season? Please share in the comments below.

photo by flicker

Fall Break is just around the corner and that means a one week break for the kids from school. I have had vacation on the brain the past few days. We are planning to go camping during that time. Yes, tent, campfire, bikes, and the beach. This is becoming a family Fall Break tradition. That is, if you can call two times a tradition.

I’m a bit more excited to go on this trip because this summer was a busy time for us with moving to a new apartment. We didn’t go anywhere for a summer holiday. Instead, we took a staycation. We decided that we should get to know our community better before the kids started school. So, we went to the local swimming pool and played in our park. That was our summer, but for a few days we pulled out the tent and set it up in the living room. We went “camping” and barbecued on the balcony with hotdogs and s’mores! Kids had a blast and so did we.

So what about you? Are you a newbie in town and can’t speak the language? Are you an “old timer”, but finances are just a bit stretched this month? Or are you just too tired to pack up everything, again, and go away? Maybe a staycation is what you and your family needs.

• Become a tourist for the week, go see the sites and take pictures.
• Put a tent up in your living room (or just throw some sheets over chairs for the kids to sleep under)!
• Take walks around your neighborhood.
• Eat at restaurants that you’ve never tried before.

Welcome to Raising TCKs!

This site will be for parents, grandparents, and anyone that works with TCKs.  Right now it is under some construction, but hope to be up and running very soon.